Hope Street

Please don't judge this on the first two episodes. It gets much better, and by episode five it tootles along nicely.

The temptation to switch off is almost irresistible at the start when several seasoned actors (who should know better) ham it up and let everyone else down. They eventually calm down and remember to act for modern television rather than an amateur stage. It is interesting to see the dynamic between three key relationships. In each one a strong, nuanced performer is paired with someone doing exaggerated slapstick. Perhaps that's intentional but I'm my opinion it doesn't work well.

Very well done to the crew who must have had great patience to film almost exclusively in sunny weather. Sun, sea and sand make it a show to look forward to.

If you've given up, please tune in and stick with it.

Such a shame that the writers /producers think we are that dense that they have to continually show the location frontage to give us a clue as to where the next scene is staged !?

I lost count of how many times they screened the Police station, Commodore pub front and even interview room 1 , not sure if they have an interview new room 2 yet , not seen tibia don't think ?

The sea front scenes are great, but even they are repeated times over.

I think if I did a stop watch on scenes acted and scenes repeated, the times would not be that far apart from each other , or perhaps a little more acting would grab the minutes !

Like the show, Apart from the above......

Like some of the reviewers, I found the first episode cringe-worthy. There were many clangers. It's hard to be objective when watching locally produced TV. Lots of cliches.

However, three episodes in and it's trying to find it's groove.

As Northern Irish, I am happy to see a BBC drama based here and not about orange and green. I think the acting is mostly good. Donaghadee looks great.

I'd add that the show needs to decide what it is. At the moment it's skimming over gritty issues like people trafficking, while creating silly humour between the older characters and a portrayal of a naive constable. Maybe it's identity will evolve over the remaining episodes.

Overall, let's give it some encouragement. Shouldn't we nurture local talent and programmes about our country?

Despite all the bad ratings on here, we really enjoyed it, it's nice to have something light easy going to watch rather than a heavy drama full of violence, it's nice with all that's going on in the world at the moment to have a bit of light relief!!

As much as I am enjoying this new series I can't understand why two Police Officers need to get romantically involved. It is very unprofessional and detracts from the storyline. I am getting a little tired of the flirty glances and suggestive smirks going on between them. Otherwise a watchable series.